Show of hands. How many of you are parents of a teenager? Then you realize that kids today have never lived in a world without the Internet or cell phones and have a myriad of media choices. So I'm sure it isn't news that our younguns' (teens 13-17) are burning up the phone lines with texting. Even I was stunned when one of Nielsen's latest studies revealed just how much texting was going on. In the first quarter of 2011, teens sent an average of 3,364 mobile texts per month! I compared my 14-year-old son's phone bill against this number and was astonished to learn that he actually sends more than that each month. That's a lot of talking! But texting isn't actually talking now is it? Case in point; consider this typical titillating conversation we have daily when I call to check in on him after school:
“Hey KC,
it's mom. Whatcha doin'?”
“Nuthin'.”
“Anything
exciting happen in school today?”
“No”
“Ok,
anything happen in school today that I should KNOW about?” (Big sigh, but no response.)
“Hellleerr,
you still there? Anything I should know about?” (Even bigger sigh, because clearly I am annoying him
now. Sound familiar?)
“Nooo
mooom.”
“Ok,
well, I'll be home on time tonight. What do you want for dinner?'”
“I don't
care”
“Alrighty
then! Been great talking with you
too. Love ya!”
“Love you
t ----” Click. He hangs up before
he even gets a full, whopping three word sentence out. But he can send more than 3,000 text
messages a month? Really?
If you
ask him why the freeze out over the phone he'll tell you, “I'm just not a phone
person.” Period. End of
story. This is in line with his
“peeps” as Nielsen also reveals that amazingly, teens talk less on their phones
than any other group, running neck and neck with seniors 65-plus for an average
of 515 minutes per month. (Can someone please call my mom and let her know on
average she's talking way more than this? I would call her, but then, um, I
wouldn't be able to get her off the phone!)
Back to
your teens: don't try reaching them through email either. If it wasn't for his
school assignments my teen probably wouldn't touch his laptop because he can do
everything through his Smartphone. He may be a little ahead of his age (and I'm modestly blushing here,
because, well, he always has been advanced!) because Nielsen says American 18
year olds also spend less time on their computers, averaging 39 hours, 50
minutes online per month from their home computers. When it comes to online video viewing, 12-17 year olds
watched 7 hours, 13 minutes of mobile video a month, compared to 4 hours, 20
minutes for the general population. Perhaps that explains why teens age 12-17 watch the least amount of TV
than the average American, 23 hours, 41 minutes per week as opposed to 34
hours, 39 minutes for most of us.
And who
foots the bills for all of this mobile texting and video viewing? Like many of you, I totally foot the
bill for my son's texting addiction. But Nielsen data shows that out of eight countries surveyed young people
in the United States are the most likely to say that someone else is footing
the bill; with only 45 percent saying they pay for their own service. While a whopping 84 percent of
youngsters ages 15-19 in Germany and 88 percent in Russia report paying their
own mobile charges. (Before your
head spins totally around keep in mind that it wasn't specified if they paid
their mobile bills from their own money or parent-paid allowance.) But still!
My sister
lives in Germany, and she hasn't gotten my 10-year-old nephew a cell phone yet.
I think it's worth the international call to her to find out how all of her
German friends are getting their kids to foot their own cell phone bills -
allowance funded or not.
I'll let
you know what their secret is. But it may take awhile, because like my mom, my
sister can talk up a blue storm too. So don't hold your breath, it may take me
awhile.
I know I
preach that knowledge is power. And, it is. So, Mom and
Dad, consider yourself warned and armed with information. Go forth and do with
it what you will!
Cheryl
Pearson-McNeil is senior vice president of Public Affairs and Government
Relations for Nielsen.
